Suit against polluting firms rejected

Suit against polluting firms rejected

JAKARTA (JP): The North Jakarta District Court has rejected a lawsuit against five factories and the West Java administration over river pollution filed by residents.

Presiding judge Adi Nugroho said on Wednesday that his office had no right to process the lawsuit as neither the plaintiffs nor the accused live in North Jakarta. The polluted river is also located in West Java.

The plaintiffs are residents of Serang, West Java. The accused are PT Indah Kiat Pulp and Paper, PT Onward Paper Utama, PT Cipta Paperia, PT Sekawan Maju Pesat, PT Picon Jaya and the West Java administration which are all based in West Java.

As many as 5,000 residents of Serang filed a lawsuit against the five factories for polluting the Ciujung River with unprocessed industrial waste between 1992 and 1994.

The residents also filed suit against the West Java administration for failing to supervise the environment.

The lawsuit was filed at the North Jakarta District Court because one of the factories, Cipta Paperia, had its head office on Jl. Raya Sunter, North Jakarta. The office relocated to West Java in 1990, of which the residents were unaware. The lawsuit was filed this year.

The North Jakarta judge then suggested that the plaintiffs file a lawsuit with the Tangerang or Serang District Court where the factories are located. The plaintiffs' lawyers, Lutfi Yazid and Irianto Subiyanto, said they would do so.

According to the lawyers, the residents are seeking a court ruling which will force the factories to conduct an environmental audit as required by the 1991 law on the environment.

The residents are also seeking Rp 18.7 billion (US$8.5 million) for the loss of their rights to live healthily and also for the drop in their agricultural production. Most of the residents had shrimp ponds which got water from the Ciujung River. (29)